The 60,000-square-foot Center for Texas Cultural Heritage, seen in an artist's rendering, would tell the story of Southeast Texas through interactive exhibits.

The 60,000-square-foot Center for Texas Cultural Heritage, seen in an artist's rendering, would tell the story of Southeast Texas through interactive exhibits.

Photo: AlexisM

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Land sale would clear way for Texas history center downtown

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Houston officials and preservationists plan to kick off a campaign Thursday to raise $40 million in donations to build a downtown center to immerse visitors in the history of Southeast Texas.

The agency that runs the city's convention business plans to put up an additional $15 million toward the Center for Texas Cultural Heritage, a 60,000-square-foot building that will give visitors an interactive encounter with the San Jacinto Monument, the tall ship Elissa, Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park, the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, the Bishop's Palace, Spindletop and other landmarks that tell the region's story.

On Wednesday, City Council will consider purchasing land across the street from Minute Maid Park for $1.8 million that will clear the way for Thursday's announcement. Construction is scheduled to start late next year. The money comes from Houston First, the agency that until last year was the city's convention and entertainment facilities department, which sold other property to raise the cash. The rest of Houston First's commitment will come from hotel occupancy tax collections. No general fund property tax money is to be used.

"We have more than 1.2 million visitors to the convention district every year, and these visitors want to get a sense of the region's heritage and where they are and what makes the region special," said Sharon Adams, chief communications officer for Houston First. "Study after study has shown that visitors want unique and authentic experiences, and we think the visitors center will give them just that."

For visitors, students

Expectations are that the center will make the short list of attractions to which locals would bring out-of-town visitors, much like the Johnson Space Center. A press release from the center states that by introducing conventioneers and others to the wide array of local attractions, the center will help turn single-day visits into extended stays. Its state-of-the-art exhibits aim to prompt visitors to fan out across the region in search of the real thing, Adams said, and spend money on taxis, restaurants, hotel rooms and gifts in doing so.

Wednesday's council agenda describes the center as an "educational and inspirational venue in downtown Houston where residents and visitors will explore and experience the history, culture and entrepreneurial spirit that built and will continue to define the Houston region and the State of Texas."

In July, council approved spending as much as $2.5 million on the land for what then was also billed as a "venue for elementary and middle-school students of Texas history to learn and benefit, through the use of modern story-telling techniques and state-of-the-art technologies, to connect them to the cultural spirit of the City of Houston and the State of Texas."

The tourism boost from the center has the potential to create 2,400 jobs, to generate $31 million a year in tourist spending and to increase state and local government tax and fee collections by $1.8 million annually, according to a study by the Greater Houston Partnership.

Thursday kickoff

The mayor's office had no comment on Tuesday. Mayor Annise Parker and John Nau, the center's chairman of the board and president/CEO of the nation's largest distributor of Anheuser-Busch products, have scheduled a news conference for Thursday morning at the future site of the center to kick off the fundraising campaign.

"We're very fortunate to have John Nau at the helm. John's legendary in the area of preservation, heritage tourism and education," said Adams.

Nau, a Houstonian, is the former chairman of the Texas Historical Commission. Nau will lead the capital campaign to pay for a new downtown jewel just as philanthropists led efforts starting in 2004 to raise more than $80 million in private money to develop Discovery Green.

Plans for the center include the restoration of the only two remaining structures from Houston's original Quality Hill neighborhood, the Foley and Cohn homes, which have been moved to the site on the block bordered by Texas, Capitol, Hamilton and Avenida de las Americas.